When Jesus came into the district of Caesrea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"
And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; and others Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."
He said to them, "But who do YOU say that I am?" (Matthew 16: 13-15)
There are 2 questions here. The first one asks the disciples about a term that Jesus often applied to Himself, "Son of Man". It is a messianic term that comes from the 7th chapter of Daniel. Beginning in verse 13 Daniel describes a vision.
I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven one like a Son of Man was coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him.
And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, that ALL the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away.
These Jewish disciples must have understood what the term meant but their answer reveals a certain hesitation to believe it. The Jewish people who were flocking to Jesus because of the wonders and miracles and the power of His preaching thought that perhaps Jesus was the return of the great prophet Elijah, taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot but prophesied to come just prior to the revealing of Messiah.
Or perhaps Jesus was the return of another one of their prophets like Jeremiah. It had been hundreds of years since Israel had seen a true prophet with signs and wonders, until the coming in their day of John the Baptist, who had been murdered by Herod. Maybe Jesus was the return of John the Baptist.
Jesus then asks the 2nd question; But who do you say that I am?.
This is the question of the ages.
Today many think of Jesus only as a historical figure, perhaps not even real at that. The most common description I hear is from those outside the Church who proclaim that Jesus was "a great teacher", albeit one of many "great teachers". A religion formed around his personality and teachings and the myth of the resurrection.
Others believe that Jesus came to start an organized religion. He appointed apostles as the head of a new liturgical priesthood that would replace the Jewish priestly system and which would administer the 7 sacraments that Jesus instituted while on the earth. Peter and his successors would be the leaders of those baptized into this church and that one man would be the visible representation of Jesus in this world.
Still others have only an intellectual belief that Jesus is God. They believe that if they are part of an organized religion, go to church and don't behave any worse than their fellow man that maybe when they die they will go to heaven.
But the prophecy in Daniel says something very interesting. It declares that to the Son of Man was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom that ALL the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him.
When Jesus asks His disciples who they say He is it is Peter who answers; You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. By this statement Peter recognizes that Jesus, who he has been walking and talking and eating with for a couple of years, is truly the One who was spoken of by Daniel.
His verbal statement was more than just an intellectual understanding. Jesus responds by saying;
Blessed are you Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
It was the Father (The Ancient of Days) through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit who gave revelation to Peter as to who Jesus truly was - a man, born of a woman, but preexisting as the promised Messiah or Christ before His earthly birth. The Son of Man was also the Son of God.
Jesus then make this statement to Simon Barjona, calling him by a name which represents who he would be in Christ;
I also say to you that you are Peter (the word in Hebrew means a little stone, a pebble), and upon this rock (not Peter as a man but Peter's confession of faith in Jesus as the Christ) I will build my church (the Church would be comprised of all who like Peter believe in Jesus as the Christ, with Jesus as the chief cornerstone), and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
Jesus goes on to say;
I will give you (not exclusively Peter but corporately the Church) the keys of the kingdom of heaven (the same kingdom as given to the Son of Man in Daniel's vision); and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.
The kingdom of heaven is all about souls being saved from their sin and rebellion by man's confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah of both Jews and Gentiles, who by His death on the cross paid the price demanded by the Father for that sin and rebellion. The kingdom is also about what we do here on earth through the power of the Holy Spirit working in us.
The most important question that Jesus will ask us will not be how we treated the poor, although that is an important thing to do. It will not be what we did for social justice, or how we managed the resources of the earth, or how religious we were or any other thing we could have done to benefit our fellow man. Those actions should be the result of the moving of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.
When Peter stood up on the day of Pentecost and addressed the large crowd gathered it is recorded in Acts 2 that he speaks of the move of the Holy Spirit as prophesied by prophet Joel, the end of which says:
And it shall be that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
He then goes on to quote other scriptures pointing to how Jesus was sent by God and that He was to die and be resurrected and ends with;
Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ - this Jesus whom you crucified.
That day 3000 were added to the Church. Despite persecutions, trials and hardships the Church, those who were saved by calling on the name of the Lord, continued to grow. Society was changed because hearts were reborn and filled with the power of the Holy Spirit who motivated men to do the will of God and to proclaim that Jesus was the one true light of the world.
As a believer, one who confesses Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I present my needs and the needs of my family to God and should represent who God is to my family and to the world. That makes me a priest. I'm not a high priest. That is and can only be Jesus. But as a priest I am also called out to present Jesus to the world and to present the world's needs to the Father through Jesus.
If I were to travel as a representative of the Church, and preach before crowds both great and small, in order to build up the Church and bind those forces that oppose the kingdom and loose those people that are bound by tradition and unbelief and sins and the enemy, I would not present programs or earthly philosophy sprinkled with proof texts. I would not ask for the blessing of Jesus's earthly mother to accomplish what is properly in the realm of the Holy Spirit to do. For real change to happen it must come through the power of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit will only move in power when our focus moves away from a man, any man, and towards God. The glory must always be the Lord's.
Peter preached to the crowd that Jesus whom they crucified was Lord and Christ. Peter was the first (although reluctantly) to bring the good news about Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit to the Gentiles (and while he was still speaking the Holy Spirit descended and the entire family believed). There is no record that Peter ever presided over the assembly of apostles, or wore vestments or a miter or carried a staff with a crucifix or had a big ring for people to kiss. When the lame beggar asked Peter and John for alms they responded that they didn't have any money but what they did have they would give to him. They then declared that in the name of Jesus that man should stand up and walk. And he did, leaping, shouting and praising God.
That is what the world desperately needs. That power is what the Church desperately needs. The message that Jesus is Lord and Savior and that He is the only way for man to come to the Father is what the UN desperately needs. If I were to travel as a representative of the Church I don't think I would be too popular in the world of celebrity and political correctness. But oh, what an opportunity to declare that Jesus is the Christ!
Who do you say that Jesus is?
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
Peace
This poem can be sung to the Stuart Townsend song/hymn - How Deep The Father's Love For Us
Of all the wars that ever fought
and all the deaths so tragic
they added none to those that passed
death is the way of mankind
Come walk with me upon a path
this morning through the flowers
we felt the chill brush past our checks
our shoes were damp but willing
Ahead in mist made clear a fence
with rusty gate confining
this was our way and no where else
too late to change our anthem
As we approached it opened wide
sweet sunshine on the meadow
but then a fusillade was spent
tore searing through a body
You lay there on that rolling hill
eyes opened but in anguish
a wordless plea with each heartbeat
I couldn't stop the bleeding
Who are the ones that never hear
when battles are a raging
you run but are you going straight
away from sweet plantation
There is this cross upon a rise
where hate and death did perish
I held the hammer in my hands
my hands that were not worthy
Then looking up I saw a man
him striding toward my station
he beckoned me with outstretched arms
then opened up the cavern
A table set before our foes
a feast all so amazing
it was a place of tranquil peace
except those singing angels
Of all the wars that ever fought
and all the deaths so tragic
they added none to those that passed
death is the way of mankind
Come walk with me upon a path
this morning through the flowers
we felt the chill brush past our checks
our shoes were damp but willing
Ahead in mist made clear a fence
with rusty gate confining
this was our way and no where else
too late to change our anthem
As we approached it opened wide
sweet sunshine on the meadow
but then a fusillade was spent
tore searing through a body
You lay there on that rolling hill
eyes opened but in anguish
a wordless plea with each heartbeat
I couldn't stop the bleeding
Who are the ones that never hear
when battles are a raging
you run but are you going straight
away from sweet plantation
There is this cross upon a rise
where hate and death did perish
I held the hammer in my hands
my hands that were not worthy
Then looking up I saw a man
him striding toward my station
he beckoned me with outstretched arms
then opened up the cavern
A table set before our foes
a feast all so amazing
it was a place of tranquil peace
except those singing angels
Saturday, September 19, 2015
Meltdown
Jackie and I worked at the same test location Friday. As it turned out Jackie was able to be finished with her last client just before I was to start mine so she positioned my last client at the proper spot and did the vehicle inspection for me.
While working on sweet little Daijanae's paperwork I noticed that this eighteen year old was dressed with big healed black boots that had black straps winding around her legs all the way up to her very short skirt which matched her skimpy low cut top and big hair. Her left arm was completely covered with an interesting tattoo. Later on I mentioned to my dear wife that she was dressed "interestingly". Jackie had a different adjective. I think it was something like "slutty".
After her mother gets out of the car and sits in a chair that sets next to our shed I give Daijanae the instructions for the parking lot portion of the test. On the forward stop she is only about an inch short so I do not deduct any points. When Daijanae begins the first backup section she starts turning too early and then trys working me to begin again.
"Can I go back to the line and start again?" she asks. "Sure" I say. "Just remember that each time you go forward after reverse it will be a point against you." Daijanae then points to the first cone she will have to back around and acts like she didn't understand where she was supposed to go. I give her the instructions again for that portion of the test and Daijanae actually makes the right adjustment and squeezes around the cone missing it by perhaps by the width of a piece of paper. No points there but she backs too far into the space and the rear of her car goes past the back line and she gets a couple of points for that.
One can get up to six points and still pass the parking lot portion so Daijanae has a lot of space to work with while doing the parallel park exercise. She positions her car in a good position but backs in to shallow. She asks me if she can start over. I tell her "Sure, just remember that each time you go forward after reverse if will be a point against you."
Instead of going out of the space and trying to back in further Daijanae turns her wheel right, pulls forward, getting the front end of her car in the space but leaving the back of her car outside. This is usually a fatal mistake and sure enough she does not recover from it. Three times she repeats the maneuver, backing up, going forward at a slightly greater angle, each time leaving the back of her car farther outside the space, a couple of times hitting the cones that mark the lines.
While Daijanae keeps doing this I walk over to her mom to help her understand that this will not end up well for her daughter. Little did I guess what would happen next.
Daijanae jams her car in reverse, plows over the back line of cones, jams her car into drive and Dukes of Hazzard style squeals out of the parallel parking space, does a 360 around the test area, sets herself up again for the parallel park, jams her car in reverse, plows over the back set of cones again which are now lying flat, jams her car into drive, squeals out of the space again, does another 360 at lightning speed and then heads toward where I am standing with her mother and parks the car next to us.
She then lets out a bloodcurdling scream, gets out of her car, slams the door and while still screaming at the top of her lungs punches our shed a couple of time. Apparently not yet satisfied Daijanae then walks around her car, screaming and kicking her auto with those black big healed boots - 6 times!
All of this does not seem to faze her mama one bit. I explain to the mom through the incredible din that the test is now over, what her daughter could do better the next time and what they need to do to reschedule. At this point I walk over and start to put the cones and poles on our dolly. Daijanae, who is now sitting all fore lorn on the asphalt next to her car looks up and asks if she can PLEASE start over.
I calmly inform her that the State does not allow restarts but the thought actually runs through my brain that no man in his right mind would right now want to be any where near that lady and her car.
This whole scene did not go unnoticed. A guy riding a bike pulls up next to me and says; "I take it she didn't pass?" And I respond; "You think?" He tells me I'm lucky we did not get to go out driving.
Then I notice that there is a large group of the various minority factions from around the world that come to practice their parking skills after we leave. There are Hispanics, men and woman from Burma, Nepal and gosh knows where else. When I look their way they all break out laughing.
Daijanah and her moma drive off, I finish putting the cones, poles and chair away and get into the car with Jackie. We just look at each other before she smiles and says; "Glad that was your test!"
While working on sweet little Daijanae's paperwork I noticed that this eighteen year old was dressed with big healed black boots that had black straps winding around her legs all the way up to her very short skirt which matched her skimpy low cut top and big hair. Her left arm was completely covered with an interesting tattoo. Later on I mentioned to my dear wife that she was dressed "interestingly". Jackie had a different adjective. I think it was something like "slutty".
After her mother gets out of the car and sits in a chair that sets next to our shed I give Daijanae the instructions for the parking lot portion of the test. On the forward stop she is only about an inch short so I do not deduct any points. When Daijanae begins the first backup section she starts turning too early and then trys working me to begin again.
"Can I go back to the line and start again?" she asks. "Sure" I say. "Just remember that each time you go forward after reverse it will be a point against you." Daijanae then points to the first cone she will have to back around and acts like she didn't understand where she was supposed to go. I give her the instructions again for that portion of the test and Daijanae actually makes the right adjustment and squeezes around the cone missing it by perhaps by the width of a piece of paper. No points there but she backs too far into the space and the rear of her car goes past the back line and she gets a couple of points for that.
One can get up to six points and still pass the parking lot portion so Daijanae has a lot of space to work with while doing the parallel park exercise. She positions her car in a good position but backs in to shallow. She asks me if she can start over. I tell her "Sure, just remember that each time you go forward after reverse if will be a point against you."
Instead of going out of the space and trying to back in further Daijanae turns her wheel right, pulls forward, getting the front end of her car in the space but leaving the back of her car outside. This is usually a fatal mistake and sure enough she does not recover from it. Three times she repeats the maneuver, backing up, going forward at a slightly greater angle, each time leaving the back of her car farther outside the space, a couple of times hitting the cones that mark the lines.
While Daijanae keeps doing this I walk over to her mom to help her understand that this will not end up well for her daughter. Little did I guess what would happen next.
Daijanae jams her car in reverse, plows over the back line of cones, jams her car into drive and Dukes of Hazzard style squeals out of the parallel parking space, does a 360 around the test area, sets herself up again for the parallel park, jams her car in reverse, plows over the back set of cones again which are now lying flat, jams her car into drive, squeals out of the space again, does another 360 at lightning speed and then heads toward where I am standing with her mother and parks the car next to us.
She then lets out a bloodcurdling scream, gets out of her car, slams the door and while still screaming at the top of her lungs punches our shed a couple of time. Apparently not yet satisfied Daijanae then walks around her car, screaming and kicking her auto with those black big healed boots - 6 times!
All of this does not seem to faze her mama one bit. I explain to the mom through the incredible din that the test is now over, what her daughter could do better the next time and what they need to do to reschedule. At this point I walk over and start to put the cones and poles on our dolly. Daijanae, who is now sitting all fore lorn on the asphalt next to her car looks up and asks if she can PLEASE start over.
I calmly inform her that the State does not allow restarts but the thought actually runs through my brain that no man in his right mind would right now want to be any where near that lady and her car.
This whole scene did not go unnoticed. A guy riding a bike pulls up next to me and says; "I take it she didn't pass?" And I respond; "You think?" He tells me I'm lucky we did not get to go out driving.
Then I notice that there is a large group of the various minority factions from around the world that come to practice their parking skills after we leave. There are Hispanics, men and woman from Burma, Nepal and gosh knows where else. When I look their way they all break out laughing.
Daijanah and her moma drive off, I finish putting the cones, poles and chair away and get into the car with Jackie. We just look at each other before she smiles and says; "Glad that was your test!"
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Highway Shoe
Hello little white lonely sneaker
lying on the road
once so full of hope and vigor
now you're like a toad
no one cares while passing by
from whom or where you came
with people to see and places to go
we all share equal blame
so did they toss you out a window
while you were fast asleep
victim of of fellow prankster
smirks but not a peep
were you laid on top a roof
all to easy forgotten
is your partner in a ditch
smelling oh so rotten
perhaps you rode a teenage bus
and someone made a dare
you whacked a team mate in the head
and then you wasn't there
or maybe in a bag you traveled
placed just so on top
someone rushed across the street
and didn't hear the plop
I want to know I need to know
I care about your story
and even though your toes now black
I'm sure you had your glory
bye now little white lonely sneaker
lying on the road
I think I see a glove out there
who needs it's story told
lying on the road
once so full of hope and vigor
now you're like a toad
no one cares while passing by
from whom or where you came
with people to see and places to go
we all share equal blame
so did they toss you out a window
while you were fast asleep
victim of of fellow prankster
smirks but not a peep
were you laid on top a roof
all to easy forgotten
is your partner in a ditch
smelling oh so rotten
perhaps you rode a teenage bus
and someone made a dare
you whacked a team mate in the head
and then you wasn't there
or maybe in a bag you traveled
placed just so on top
someone rushed across the street
and didn't hear the plop
I want to know I need to know
I care about your story
and even though your toes now black
I'm sure you had your glory
bye now little white lonely sneaker
lying on the road
I think I see a glove out there
who needs it's story told
Saturday, September 12, 2015
That Foolish Cross
For the word of the cross is foolishness to those that are perishing, but to us that are being saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1: 18)
This week I had an interesting dream. Not that I am a prophet mind you and the dream did stem from a photo I saw the evening before but it's theme resonates in my heart and so I will share it with you.
Over the Labor Day weekend my family spent a few days with each other at a place called Camp Geneva. Everyone had a wonderful time and there were a lot of activities that keep anyone as busy or as laid back as they wanted. One of my daughters put together a scavenger hunt where we divided the family up into different groups to go through the camp ground and then take selfies of our little group with the items we found.
Some of the more interesting or fun photos were posted on our family group section on FB a day or two after we returned home and one showed our group standing in front of a wooden cross in a little outdoor prayer spot overlooking beautiful Lake Michigan. We had just seen another group getting their picture taken at that spot and not having looked through the whole scavenger list we thought that we might as well do the same. But then someone (maybe me) said that one of the items needed was showing our group with crazy faces. This we did.
It was only when my daughter posted the resulting picture did we humbly realize that, (to use the common exclamation which I always avoid but it works well here, OMG!) we WERE making crazy faces standing IN FRONT OF A CROSS.
So that night I had a dream and in the dream was the same cross. I was in the back of a church sanctuary and sitting there was a single wide bed. A plain wooden cross was lying just above the bed, the top resting on and between the spindles at the head of the bed, the bottom resting on and between the spindles at the base, the arms extending beyond each side.
A priest in vestments approached the cross and bed from the base and he was going to bless the cross. I thought perhaps he was going to use holy water and pour it on the cross but instead he got out a small vial of anointing oil, put a little on his fingers and then squeezed out a few drops upon the cross.
I then put my hand on the oil and began spreading it upon the rest of the cross. Someone from the crowd standing at the other side of the bed/cross did the same and as we were spreading the oil out there was more than enough to cover the entire thing. I remember that I was in tears while doing so. Then the dream ended.
Perhaps this dream was only a reaction of my subconscious from just seeing myself in a picture making a funny face in front of the cross. Perhaps the picture and the dream were a God thing where He puts together for me different things that then have a certain message He wants me to understand. If the later is so, and I believe it is here, then the question is if the message is for me personally, for someone else in particular, or for another reason. My feeling is that it was a word from the Lord and that it was not just for me personally.
To me the symbolism seems pretty clear. I have been writing a bit lately about revival and very recently had a post called The Next Great Awakening and I believe the picture and dream point to what will be the driving focus of the next great revival in our land.
If I could say in one sentence what I think God is saying to me through this it would be:
The next great move of God will focus on the cross.
Here is how I interpret the symbolism. The photo shows how the message of the cross is pretty much being mocked today (Ouch!)
The cross on the bed in the back of the church represents the church and society in general where the message of the cross is asleep. What does that mean? What message is forgotten, glossed over or even mocked in many churches today? I believe it is this -
At a particular point in time Jesus was beaten, whipped, mocked and then nailed to a wooden beam and the shedding of His blood and His death on that cross was to pay the penalty for our sins that we as sinful men and women could not pay. The message of the cross is that there is no other way for mankind as a whole or for each of us as individuals to be justified before the Father except through what Jesus did for us on that cross. It is just like the refrain from the song that was always sung at the end of a Billy Graham crusade; "Just as I am, without a plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me."
The oil represents the anointing of the Holy Spirit and the anointing will spread as the message of the cross is spread, bringing tears of repentance and many souls into the kingdom of God.
Will the revival somehow start with the Holy Spirit bringing a fresh revelation of the message of the cross to Catholics? That part, as does the rest I guess, remains to be seen.
Here are some verses from the 1st and 2nd chapters of 1 Corinthians. Paul is addressing divisions in the early church concerning both personalities and theology. When Paul ministered he did so in the power of the Holy Spirit with both signs and wonders but he says his message was always very simple and direct. This was because he did not want followers of Paul. He wanted to make followers of Jesus Christ. It is only through Jesus and his death on the cross that man could have eternal life.
Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech so that the cross of Christ would be made void. For the word of the cross is foolishness to those that are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
For indeed, Jews ask for signs and Greeks seek for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness. But to those that are called, both Jews and Greeks, (the cross is) the power of God and the wisdom of God.
God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong . . . so that no man may boast before God.
But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, so that just as it is written, "Let him who boast, boast in the Lord."
When I came to you brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I was determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
The message of the cross is that through death comes life. It is through the death of Jesus on the cross and our desire and confession that Jesus death on the cross provides forgiveness for our sins that He becomes our Savior and we then gain eternal life.
The message of the cross is also that we identify with what Jesus did by denying ourselves the lordship of our lives. On the cross Jesus surrendered to the will of the Father. We surrender to the will of the Father by then surrendering to the Lordship of Jesus. This is on the one hand not easy because we need to trust by faith that He loves us and thus His will, even if goes against our desires or what is taught by the world is truly best for us. Yet on the other hand, when we step out in faith, when we carry the cross of Christ in obedience, there is nothing more freeing.
I think the power of the next great revival will be in the simplicity of the message, the redeeming power of the cross. May all who run toward it be blessed.
This week I had an interesting dream. Not that I am a prophet mind you and the dream did stem from a photo I saw the evening before but it's theme resonates in my heart and so I will share it with you.
Over the Labor Day weekend my family spent a few days with each other at a place called Camp Geneva. Everyone had a wonderful time and there were a lot of activities that keep anyone as busy or as laid back as they wanted. One of my daughters put together a scavenger hunt where we divided the family up into different groups to go through the camp ground and then take selfies of our little group with the items we found.
Some of the more interesting or fun photos were posted on our family group section on FB a day or two after we returned home and one showed our group standing in front of a wooden cross in a little outdoor prayer spot overlooking beautiful Lake Michigan. We had just seen another group getting their picture taken at that spot and not having looked through the whole scavenger list we thought that we might as well do the same. But then someone (maybe me) said that one of the items needed was showing our group with crazy faces. This we did.
It was only when my daughter posted the resulting picture did we humbly realize that, (to use the common exclamation which I always avoid but it works well here, OMG!) we WERE making crazy faces standing IN FRONT OF A CROSS.
So that night I had a dream and in the dream was the same cross. I was in the back of a church sanctuary and sitting there was a single wide bed. A plain wooden cross was lying just above the bed, the top resting on and between the spindles at the head of the bed, the bottom resting on and between the spindles at the base, the arms extending beyond each side.
A priest in vestments approached the cross and bed from the base and he was going to bless the cross. I thought perhaps he was going to use holy water and pour it on the cross but instead he got out a small vial of anointing oil, put a little on his fingers and then squeezed out a few drops upon the cross.
I then put my hand on the oil and began spreading it upon the rest of the cross. Someone from the crowd standing at the other side of the bed/cross did the same and as we were spreading the oil out there was more than enough to cover the entire thing. I remember that I was in tears while doing so. Then the dream ended.
Perhaps this dream was only a reaction of my subconscious from just seeing myself in a picture making a funny face in front of the cross. Perhaps the picture and the dream were a God thing where He puts together for me different things that then have a certain message He wants me to understand. If the later is so, and I believe it is here, then the question is if the message is for me personally, for someone else in particular, or for another reason. My feeling is that it was a word from the Lord and that it was not just for me personally.
To me the symbolism seems pretty clear. I have been writing a bit lately about revival and very recently had a post called The Next Great Awakening and I believe the picture and dream point to what will be the driving focus of the next great revival in our land.
If I could say in one sentence what I think God is saying to me through this it would be:
The next great move of God will focus on the cross.
Here is how I interpret the symbolism. The photo shows how the message of the cross is pretty much being mocked today (Ouch!)
The cross on the bed in the back of the church represents the church and society in general where the message of the cross is asleep. What does that mean? What message is forgotten, glossed over or even mocked in many churches today? I believe it is this -
At a particular point in time Jesus was beaten, whipped, mocked and then nailed to a wooden beam and the shedding of His blood and His death on that cross was to pay the penalty for our sins that we as sinful men and women could not pay. The message of the cross is that there is no other way for mankind as a whole or for each of us as individuals to be justified before the Father except through what Jesus did for us on that cross. It is just like the refrain from the song that was always sung at the end of a Billy Graham crusade; "Just as I am, without a plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me."
The oil represents the anointing of the Holy Spirit and the anointing will spread as the message of the cross is spread, bringing tears of repentance and many souls into the kingdom of God.
Will the revival somehow start with the Holy Spirit bringing a fresh revelation of the message of the cross to Catholics? That part, as does the rest I guess, remains to be seen.
Here are some verses from the 1st and 2nd chapters of 1 Corinthians. Paul is addressing divisions in the early church concerning both personalities and theology. When Paul ministered he did so in the power of the Holy Spirit with both signs and wonders but he says his message was always very simple and direct. This was because he did not want followers of Paul. He wanted to make followers of Jesus Christ. It is only through Jesus and his death on the cross that man could have eternal life.
Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech so that the cross of Christ would be made void. For the word of the cross is foolishness to those that are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
For indeed, Jews ask for signs and Greeks seek for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness. But to those that are called, both Jews and Greeks, (the cross is) the power of God and the wisdom of God.
God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong . . . so that no man may boast before God.
But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, so that just as it is written, "Let him who boast, boast in the Lord."
When I came to you brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I was determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.
The message of the cross is that through death comes life. It is through the death of Jesus on the cross and our desire and confession that Jesus death on the cross provides forgiveness for our sins that He becomes our Savior and we then gain eternal life.
The message of the cross is also that we identify with what Jesus did by denying ourselves the lordship of our lives. On the cross Jesus surrendered to the will of the Father. We surrender to the will of the Father by then surrendering to the Lordship of Jesus. This is on the one hand not easy because we need to trust by faith that He loves us and thus His will, even if goes against our desires or what is taught by the world is truly best for us. Yet on the other hand, when we step out in faith, when we carry the cross of Christ in obedience, there is nothing more freeing.
I think the power of the next great revival will be in the simplicity of the message, the redeeming power of the cross. May all who run toward it be blessed.
Monday, September 7, 2015
Family Camp
A cyclopes only has one eye
a two-headed monster four
the bear might eat you if you cry
so slash him if he roars
and be careful of those robot arms
they'll knock you if you're slow
so many monsters in the way
the pirates have to go
I head they gathered on a boat
and sang a pirates ditty
some said aaaarg or yo ho ho
some thought they were so pretty
the capt'ns had a treasure map
and led their troops away
then from behind a near by tree
they saw the cyclopes sway
It had no chance that one eyed dear
and neither did the bear
two heads might be better than one
but this fight wasn't fair
the robots seemed a bit confused
perhaps it was their foe
who circled fast and cut them down
there's treasure to get you know
They found the booty buried deep
beneath Geneva's sand
it was a long march to get there
across that rolling land
they had their sabers in the air
some flint locks by the side
and terrorized our sweet neighbors
(it made me filled with pride)
Now pirates come in many shapes
perhaps a dozen sizes
each one loves to find that loot
and divide all those prizes
but at the end of such a day
with smores by the fire
you'd think a pirate would wear out
I know the mommies tire
We sat around those glowing logs
with kiddies tucked in bed
some might have even been asleep
but whispering instead
we talked about the pirate's quest
the day beneath the sun
pool and surf and happy faces
family camp is fun
a two-headed monster four
the bear might eat you if you cry
so slash him if he roars
and be careful of those robot arms
they'll knock you if you're slow
so many monsters in the way
the pirates have to go
I head they gathered on a boat
and sang a pirates ditty
some said aaaarg or yo ho ho
some thought they were so pretty
the capt'ns had a treasure map
and led their troops away
then from behind a near by tree
they saw the cyclopes sway
It had no chance that one eyed dear
and neither did the bear
two heads might be better than one
but this fight wasn't fair
the robots seemed a bit confused
perhaps it was their foe
who circled fast and cut them down
there's treasure to get you know
They found the booty buried deep
beneath Geneva's sand
it was a long march to get there
across that rolling land
they had their sabers in the air
some flint locks by the side
and terrorized our sweet neighbors
(it made me filled with pride)
Now pirates come in many shapes
perhaps a dozen sizes
each one loves to find that loot
and divide all those prizes
but at the end of such a day
with smores by the fire
you'd think a pirate would wear out
I know the mommies tire
We sat around those glowing logs
with kiddies tucked in bed
some might have even been asleep
but whispering instead
we talked about the pirate's quest
the day beneath the sun
pool and surf and happy faces
family camp is fun
Friday, September 4, 2015
Back Story To My Poem
My daughter Becky stopped over this week and while we were talking she mentioned that she liked the poem from my last post. After I told her what was going on in my mind she said it might be a good idea to post those thoughts as well. So here it is.
Sometimes things churn around in my brain, an idea pops out, and then it becomes a poem. This is what was going on leading to my last post - The Next Great Awakening
Some of the first books I read after my conversion were by M.R.D. DeHaan, M.D., a medical doctor and a minister who for 27 years had a half hour radio program. His - The Chemistry of the Blood - and - Portraits of Christ in Genesis - helped provide for me a terrific scriptural foundation showing that the Bible, from the very beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation talks about Jesus and God's plan of salvation.
One of my favorite books by DeHaan was - The Tabernacle. It shows that each detail of the tabernacle, the material, the colors, the furniture and their placement, the names and position of the encamped tribes, every dimension points to the person and the work of Jesus as well as to who we are as a believer and how all that fits into what salvation is.
In church Sunday I saw a pastor who was broken. He had to work hard to keep from crying as he was preaching. It was the 3rd anniversary of his father's death but there seemed to me that more was going on in his heart. He has been preaching for a couple of months from the Book of Exodus and Sunday's theme had to do with God giving the plans for the wilderness tabernacle to Moses as well as how God had etched His commandments on tablets of stone and as soon as those tablets were brought to the people they became broken because the people were in the process of violating the very first one.
He talked a little about the most holy place in the tabernacle. Outside is where the sacrifices are offered. Just inside the tent is an area called the holy place where sits the candlestick, the table of shewbread and the altar of incense. There is a thick veil that separates the holy place from a second room which is called the most holy place, or the holy of holies.
In the most holy place is the ark of the covenant which has on top of it a gold lid. This is called the mercy seat. On each side of the mercy seat which covered the ark, inside of which were the broken tablets of the law given to Moses, were the golden cherubim. Above the ark, above the mercy seat, above the cherubim in this wilderness tabernacle resided the cloud of the Presence, the shekina glory of God. It was into this place, into the cloud of glory but only once a year, that the high priest would enter to make sacrifice for the sins of the nation.
Our pastor was broken and I believe he was broken for souls. When you talk about the awesome glory of God and you realize just a portion of who He is and what He has planned and what He has done it can be overwhelming. When you realize that through Jesus death on the cross the veil in the tabernacle that separated mankind from the awesome glory was torn in two one can feel anxious and in despair for those that remain blinded by this world.
There are so many that need to know Jesus, whose lives could be brought into the glory and the presence and yet are deceived by unbelief, or the world or even by religious works. The numbers are so large and we are so weak. I myself often want to grab people by the shoulders, shake them and yell, "Forget your stupid arguments and excuses. Even though I have seen only just a little of the presence of the glory of God I have experienced it and can testify that you have no idea what you are talking about and what you are missing!"
When I woke up and showered Tuesday morning a song started running through my brain (that's happens quite often) and the song was about an angel bringing a burning coal to touch my lips. I am currently in Isaiah and a few days before I had read the verse in chapter 6 which talks about an angel bringing a burning coal to touch Isaiah's mouth.
So that night I thought it might be a good theme for a poem but I felt I needed to do a little research about Isaiah 6:7. Here it is beginning with verse 1:
I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.
Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory."
And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.
Then I said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."
Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs.
He touched my mouth with it and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven."
Other readings for that day were some articles about it being the 20th anniversary of the Toronto Airport revival which continues on even to today and an account from Dutch Sheets about visiting the location of the Cane Ridge revival which led to the second great awakening and then getting on an airplane and being part of a dedication for a bible school and church in Wales that was recently restored.
The church was where Evan Roberts preached and from which began the great Welsh revival and the bible school was where Roberts and then his son had a prayer room which went on for years interceding for the church and against the forces of darkness active in the world
A similar comment was made about ministers from both Toronto and Wales. They were men broken before the Lord who realized they could do nothing in their own power.
There were interesting things I noticed about Isaiah from the commentaries. Isaiah was looking into the heavenly tabernacle which was the pattern for the earthly tabernacle. The work of the cheribum was the same, to guard the presence and the holiness of the Lord. The burning coal would have come from the altar of incense, incense representing the prayers of the people placed on the burning coal.
One commentary brought this all forward to the account in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit first descended upon the church. In what form did He come? It was not a burning coal placed on the lips but it was pretty close - tongues of fire! What was the immediate result? The disciples who had gathered there waiting for the promise spoke out in other languages, speaking of the mighty deeds of God. And then Peter, who only weeks before had denied Christ 3 times stood up and addressed the large crowd that had gathered and with great boldness proclaimed to them what was written by the prophet Joel.
What was the result? The Holy Spirit used both the testimony and the praise of those gathered. That day 3 thousand souls were added to the kingdom.
When the seraphim spoke "the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke." May we see a great shaking!
Sometimes things churn around in my brain, an idea pops out, and then it becomes a poem. This is what was going on leading to my last post - The Next Great Awakening
Some of the first books I read after my conversion were by M.R.D. DeHaan, M.D., a medical doctor and a minister who for 27 years had a half hour radio program. His - The Chemistry of the Blood - and - Portraits of Christ in Genesis - helped provide for me a terrific scriptural foundation showing that the Bible, from the very beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation talks about Jesus and God's plan of salvation.
One of my favorite books by DeHaan was - The Tabernacle. It shows that each detail of the tabernacle, the material, the colors, the furniture and their placement, the names and position of the encamped tribes, every dimension points to the person and the work of Jesus as well as to who we are as a believer and how all that fits into what salvation is.
In church Sunday I saw a pastor who was broken. He had to work hard to keep from crying as he was preaching. It was the 3rd anniversary of his father's death but there seemed to me that more was going on in his heart. He has been preaching for a couple of months from the Book of Exodus and Sunday's theme had to do with God giving the plans for the wilderness tabernacle to Moses as well as how God had etched His commandments on tablets of stone and as soon as those tablets were brought to the people they became broken because the people were in the process of violating the very first one.
He talked a little about the most holy place in the tabernacle. Outside is where the sacrifices are offered. Just inside the tent is an area called the holy place where sits the candlestick, the table of shewbread and the altar of incense. There is a thick veil that separates the holy place from a second room which is called the most holy place, or the holy of holies.
In the most holy place is the ark of the covenant which has on top of it a gold lid. This is called the mercy seat. On each side of the mercy seat which covered the ark, inside of which were the broken tablets of the law given to Moses, were the golden cherubim. Above the ark, above the mercy seat, above the cherubim in this wilderness tabernacle resided the cloud of the Presence, the shekina glory of God. It was into this place, into the cloud of glory but only once a year, that the high priest would enter to make sacrifice for the sins of the nation.
Our pastor was broken and I believe he was broken for souls. When you talk about the awesome glory of God and you realize just a portion of who He is and what He has planned and what He has done it can be overwhelming. When you realize that through Jesus death on the cross the veil in the tabernacle that separated mankind from the awesome glory was torn in two one can feel anxious and in despair for those that remain blinded by this world.
There are so many that need to know Jesus, whose lives could be brought into the glory and the presence and yet are deceived by unbelief, or the world or even by religious works. The numbers are so large and we are so weak. I myself often want to grab people by the shoulders, shake them and yell, "Forget your stupid arguments and excuses. Even though I have seen only just a little of the presence of the glory of God I have experienced it and can testify that you have no idea what you are talking about and what you are missing!"
When I woke up and showered Tuesday morning a song started running through my brain (that's happens quite often) and the song was about an angel bringing a burning coal to touch my lips. I am currently in Isaiah and a few days before I had read the verse in chapter 6 which talks about an angel bringing a burning coal to touch Isaiah's mouth.
So that night I thought it might be a good theme for a poem but I felt I needed to do a little research about Isaiah 6:7. Here it is beginning with verse 1:
I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.
Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
And one called out to another and said, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory."
And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.
Then I said, "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts."
Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs.
He touched my mouth with it and said, "Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away and your sin is forgiven."
Other readings for that day were some articles about it being the 20th anniversary of the Toronto Airport revival which continues on even to today and an account from Dutch Sheets about visiting the location of the Cane Ridge revival which led to the second great awakening and then getting on an airplane and being part of a dedication for a bible school and church in Wales that was recently restored.
The church was where Evan Roberts preached and from which began the great Welsh revival and the bible school was where Roberts and then his son had a prayer room which went on for years interceding for the church and against the forces of darkness active in the world
A similar comment was made about ministers from both Toronto and Wales. They were men broken before the Lord who realized they could do nothing in their own power.
There were interesting things I noticed about Isaiah from the commentaries. Isaiah was looking into the heavenly tabernacle which was the pattern for the earthly tabernacle. The work of the cheribum was the same, to guard the presence and the holiness of the Lord. The burning coal would have come from the altar of incense, incense representing the prayers of the people placed on the burning coal.
One commentary brought this all forward to the account in Acts 2 when the Holy Spirit first descended upon the church. In what form did He come? It was not a burning coal placed on the lips but it was pretty close - tongues of fire! What was the immediate result? The disciples who had gathered there waiting for the promise spoke out in other languages, speaking of the mighty deeds of God. And then Peter, who only weeks before had denied Christ 3 times stood up and addressed the large crowd that had gathered and with great boldness proclaimed to them what was written by the prophet Joel.
What was the result? The Holy Spirit used both the testimony and the praise of those gathered. That day 3 thousand souls were added to the kingdom.
When the seraphim spoke "the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke." May we see a great shaking!
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
The Next Great Awakening
The Next Great Awakening
The angel
brought
a burning
coal
and placed
it on
my lips
and said
proclaim
the word of
God
sweet as
the honey
drips
it was
the start
of something
new
revival
in the
land
a fire
started
burning
bright
and forests
couldn't
stand
we fell
down weeping
at His
feet
our arms
extended
wide
and broken
hearts
were filled with
hope
He buried
all our
pride
we then
exclaimed
the wonder
of
the power
in His
blood
and people
started
rushing
in
swept up
into the
flood
large crowds
were waiting
hours
long
while some
had tarried
days
the blind
got sight
the lame
could walk
the cleansed
all offered
praise
a million
spirits
born
again
next week
a million
more
lives were
changed
family's
healed
prayer opened
prison's
doors
and we
are those
of unclean
lips
fearful
of what
men say
while
mankind dies
a thousand
deaths
they need
someone
to pray
but coming
soon
while we're still
weak
an angel
with a
coal
it's burning
hot
onto your
mouth
empowering
your
soul
the Holy
Spirit
is our
strength
He'll give
us all
we need
so step
right in
surrender
now
to see
our nation
freed
The angel
brought
a burning
coal
and placed
it on
my lips
and said
proclaim
the word of
God
sweet as
the honey
drips
it was
the start
of something
new
revival
in the
land
a fire
started
burning
bright
and forests
couldn't
stand
we fell
down weeping
at His
feet
our arms
extended
wide
and broken
hearts
were filled with
hope
He buried
all our
pride
we then
exclaimed
the wonder
of
the power
in His
blood
and people
started
rushing
in
swept up
into the
flood
large crowds
were waiting
hours
long
while some
had tarried
days
the blind
got sight
the lame
could walk
the cleansed
all offered
praise
a million
spirits
born
again
next week
a million
more
lives were
changed
family's
healed
prayer opened
prison's
doors
and we
are those
of unclean
lips
fearful
of what
men say
while
mankind dies
a thousand
deaths
they need
someone
to pray
but coming
soon
while we're still
weak
an angel
with a
coal
it's burning
hot
onto your
mouth
empowering
your
soul
the Holy
Spirit
is our
strength
He'll give
us all
we need
so step
right in
surrender
now
to see
our nation
freed
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